TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian police have uncovered a Jakarta-Palembang drug ring and confiscated 50 kilograms (kg) of crystal methamphetamine and 65 thousand ecstasy pills from several suspects.

Adjunct Senior Commissioner Muhammad Ikbal Simatupang from the Jakarta Metropolitan Police`s Narcotics Division informed journalists here on Saturday that six people had been named suspects in connection with this drug trafficking crime.

This joint operation, involving those from the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, South Sumatra Provincial Police, and Palembang City`s Police, was launched after the police investigators arrested four suspects in North Jakarta on Friday evening (March 1).

The police officers seized 10 kg of crystal meth and 25 thousand ecstasy pills from the suspects in the North Jakarta raid. The police investigators in Palembang City then developed this case after coordinating with their colleagues in Jakarta, he stated.

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They launched two separate raids on Friday evening, resulting in the arrests of Ismayandi, 24, at a hotel on Demang Lebar Daun Street, and Rio, 25, at a hotel on General Basuki Rakhmat Street.

From this operation, the police investigators confiscated around 25 kg of cystal meth and 10 thousand ecstasy pills from Ismayandi, as well as 15 kg of cystal meth, 30 thousand ecstasy pills, and a sedan from Rio, Simatupang stated.

The total value of seized crystal meth and ecstasy pills was forecast to reach some Rp50 billion, he stated, adding that this drug ring could have been uncovered after thoroughly investigating and chasing the suspects for a month and a half.

"We continue our investigation to find whether they belong to a drug trafficking operation that inmates manage from prison," he remarked.

The two couriers arrested in Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra Province, on Friday evening, might have made plans to sell the drug in Jakarta. To this end, they planned to transport it by boarding a train from Palembang to Lampung.

From Lampung, they continued their route to Jakarta aboard a car, he added.

ANTARA